Being one that works with British nationals, there is a big difference between European English and American English. I don't think there is anything wrong with saying we speak "American." But then of course, we can never seem to pass the amendment stating that "English" is our national language.

I used to live in Indiana and one reason might be that the people like things simple in the state. Liberals make things really complex in their plans (healthcare for one, mainly to hide the real socialist plan behind it). The people really hate tax raises as well.

Indiana is very interesting, I have always wondered why it is so different than any state close to it, except Kentucky. Indiana probably has a higher population of rural voters and surburban voters than Ohio which could help the GOP there. There isnt a lot of urban area outside of Indianapolis.

Indiana also is one of the very few states not to have the dreaded "Daylight Savings Time" A lot of their counties have opted out of that. That's done b/c farmers hate DST (the chickens get up at sunrise regardless of what the US Government declares to be the time). My guess is that the state is very rural and as others have posted, the rural areas tend to be very Republican.

I don't know anything about Indiana really, but when this came up earlier several posters have pointed to the fact that Indiana is very rural, there basically aren't any big Democratic cities like in other Midwestern states. The idea is that rural areas in the Midwest are more or less the same though.

Also, it might be interesting to note that Indiana has always been more Southern than its neighbours. It's had a strong Klan presence for a long time I believe and also tended to swing with the Democrats on many occasions back in the 19th century.

A blue collar (more steel is made in Lake County than any other part of the U.S), heavily unionised area and by far the most Democratic part of Indiana

South Bend-Elkhart

The South Bend area is very "ethnic" (the largest Hungarian Community in the U.S is in the area) and fairly Blue Collar, while Elkhart is solidly Republican. Overall the region swings about *a lot*

Fort Wayne

With the exception of a few blue collar districts in Fort Wayne itself, Fort Wayne (along with it's suburbs) is a GOP stronghold (and has been since the Civil War)

The Corn Belt

Sterotypical Indiana: lots of farms and small towns, "rednecks", religious zealots... The Cornbelt covers most of the state and is the backbone of the Indiana GOP (and has been Republican since the Civil War).

Indianapolis and Suburbs

While Indianapolis itself leans Democrat, the wealthy suburbs of Indianapolis are the most Republican parts of the state with several counties voting for Bush with over 70% of the vote.

Muncie

The "Middletown" area is fairly centrist and tends to swing around a bit... (Clinton in '96, Bush in '00) it also has a quirky independent streak (Perot did well in the Muncie area in '92)

Indiana Coalfield

Basically an extension of the Southern Illinois Coalfield, the area includes Vermillion County (after Lake, the most reliably Democratic county in Indiana) and overall leans Democrat. The largest City (Terre Haute) is a traditional hotbed of Populism.

Ohio Valley

A traditional swing area, the Ohio Valley tends to be socially conservative and economically leftist and has a habit of producing large swings without little warning.Democrats often do well in the (very) blue collar counties in the Southeast of the area.

Indiana voted for the Democratic candidate in the presidential elections of 1876, 1884 and 1892. Note that Indiana thus voted for the losing Samuel Tilden. It remained a swing state hovering about the national average for many decades and voted for Wilson in 1916.

A blue collar (more steel is made in Lake County than any other part of the U.S), heavily unionised area and by far the most Democratic part of Indiana

South Bend-Elkhart

The South Bend area is very "ethnic" (the largest Hungarian Community in the U.S is in the area) and fairly Blue Collar, while Elkhart is solidly Republican. Overall the region swings about *a lot*

Fort Wayne

With the exception of a few blue collar districts in Fort Wayne itself, Fort Wayne (along with it's suburbs) is a GOP stronghold (and has been since the Civil War)

The Corn Belt

Sterotypical Indiana: lots of farms and small towns, "rednecks", religious zealots... The Cornbelt covers most of the state and is the backbone of the Indiana GOP (and has been Republican since the Civil War).

Indianapolis and Suburbs

While Indianapolis itself leans Democrat, the wealthy suburbs of Indianapolis are the most Republican parts of the state with several counties voting for Bush with over 70% of the vote.

Muncie

The "Middletown" area is fairly centrist and tends to swing around a bit... (Clinton in '96, Bush in '00) it also has a quirky independent streak (Perot did well in the Muncie area in '92)

Indiana Coalfield

Basically an extension of the Southern Illinois Coalfield, the area includes Vermillion County (after Lake, the most reliably Democratic county in Indiana) and overall leans Democrat. The largest City (Terre Haute) is a traditional hotbed of Populism.

Ohio Valley

A traditional swing area, the Ohio Valley tends to be socially conservative and economically leftist and has a habit of producing large swings without little warning.Democrats often do well in the (very) blue collar counties in the Southeast of the area.

Gary-Hammond is more democratic not because of unions, but because of the high volume of African Americans living there. Indianapolis the city is lean democrat like you said, but in a comfortable margin say 4-5pts, Bush could sweep the downtown area and democrat Julia Carsons district. As in Gary, Indianapolis city has a large African American population. Southward in Bloomington, the college town, is where you'll find the most progressive part of Indiana. The city claimed itself "gay friendly" and started promoting "gay tourism" to the area.

Gary-Hammond is more democratic not because of unions, but because of the high volume of African Americans living there.

While Gary is heavily Democrat, the rest of the area isn't (black pop. of Lake County is 25%) and is strongly Democrat because of Union ties.

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Indianapolis the city is lean democrat like you said, but in a comfortable margin say 4-5pts, Bush could sweep the downtown area and democrat Julia Carsons district. As in Gary, Indianapolis city has a large African American population.

Black pop. of Indianapolis City: 25%

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Southward in Bloomington, the college town, is where you'll find the most progressive part of Indiana. The city claimed itself "gay friendly" and started promoting "gay tourism" to the area.

The nicest (?) thing I can say about Bloomington is that my ex lives there. hahaha . . . outside of that, the campus of Indiana University is quite beautiful. With that being the issue, the town is relatively dead for 3 months of the year, along with the economy. However, there is a modern business sector forming right on the interstate. Last time I was there, I counted about 8 4+ story office buildings being built, as well as a decent commercial sector. I will say in about 10 years, Bloomington will be a MAJOR business hub in the region.

The reason Indiana is heavily Republican is due to the absense of urban areas. Indianapolis and Gary are easily outvoted by the suburbs, small towns are rural areas.

The only reason Illinois is heavily Democratic is because of Chicago.

I agree. I would add also IN = western OH minus Toledo. Though western OH lacks the coal area of southern IL/IN. The corridor including Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus share many social and political similarities.

I used to live in Indiana and one reason might be that the people like things simple in the state. Liberals make things really complex in their plans (healthcare for one, mainly to hide the real socialist plan behind it). The people really hate tax raises as well.

What can be more simple than 'the government pays for your healthcare'

I used to live in Indiana and one reason might be that the people like things simple in the state. Liberals make things really complex in their plans (healthcare for one, mainly to hide the real socialist plan behind it). The people really hate tax raises as well.

What can be more simple than 'the government pays for your healthcare'

A lot of people say that Indiana is conservative/Republican because of its rural-ness, but actually many states are more rural and less Republican than Indiana (including Midwestern states such as Minn., Iowa, and Wisc.)

Perhaps Indiana is Republican because it has relatively few ethnic whites, Hispanics, or Asians.

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"George Bush supports abstinence. Lucky Laura."- sign seen at the March for Women's Lives, 4/25/04